Luc Michel

Luc Michel (14 January 1958 – 1 April 2025) was a Belgian political activist. He was the leader and founder of the Parti Communautaire National-Européen (PCN). According to research by the BBC and Logically, he was also behind Russosphere, a French-language African social network and fake news network spreading pro-Russian and anti-Western propaganda in Africa. He was also nicknamed the "white Pan-Africanist". He was an advisor to Pierre Nkurunziza in Burundi.

Early life Luc Michel was born on 14 January 1958, and hailed from Charleroi. In his youth, Michel was a member of Front de la Jeunesse, a private militia group on the extreme right. Inspired by the success of Jean-Marie LePen in France, Michel attempted to establish a group using the National Front name in 1984, but this proved unsuccessful. A more long-lasting Belgian National Front was established by Daniel Féret the following year, although Michel took no role in this group due to a strong personal antipathy towards Féret.

He established the PCN in 1984, following the failure of his National Front initiative. Michel has been leader since its foundation, although following the collapse of the Soviet Union he convinced his mentor Thiriart to become a member. Thiriart died soon afterwards.

In 2014, Michel and Jean-Pierre Vandersmissen, as representatives of a group called the Eurasian Observatory for Democracy and Elections, acted as observers of the Crimean status referendum.

Luc Michel worked for "Afrique Media TV", Luc Michel presented himself as a "geopolitics expert" during interviews on African media and wrote "analyses" which also appeared on African television channels and Afrique media.

Pro-Russian propaganda campaigns

In early 2023, the BBC and Logically identified Michel as the creator of Russosphere, a French-language social media campaign that pushes pro-Russian propaganda in Africa. Russosphere first emerged in mid-2021,

Logically also identified Michel as being involved in the "Republic of Detroit" movement, a campaign to create a breakaway republic in the United States. Walter said that while the movement was a "weird sideshow" without much impact or influence, its message echoed that of Russosphere, and described it as Russia's "firehose model" of propaganda.

Ideology Michel was a supporter of National Bolshevism and described himself as a "national communist". He created a number of periodicals that stressed opposition to Zionism and the United States. He was a lawyer by profession, he also wrote extensively on his political ideas. He claimed to have the support of Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in this endeavour.

He advocated the idea of a "Eurasian axis" between China, Russia, and Iran as an alternative to Western hegemony, and called for an international tribunal in China to prosecute colonial crimes.

In his writing Michel expressed admiration for several developing world figures, including Che Guevara, Juan Peron, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi.

Michel had links with several members of Vlaams Belang, including Frank Creyelman.

Publications Le Parti Historique Révolutionnaire Orientations NR Manifeste à la Nation-Europe Pour une Europe unitaire et communautaire Mythes et réalités du national-bolchévisme (Russie, Allemagne, Europe) La résistance allemande anti-hitlérienne Moammar Kadhafi et la révolution lybienne